A/N: Hello again! Welcome to Alternate Reincarnation Chapter 3, "Feelings from Beyond the Boundary".

Not much to say, except for the fact that this chapter was also a remake of the original version.

The quiet evening after school had turned into a hot pursuit as four Spirits were trying to capture one.

"Hey! Don't think you can escape us, the Sisters of Wind!"

"Declaration. You won't be getting anywhere!"

"Tokisaki Kurumi. It's time for you to wake up from your nightmare!"

"Kurumi! We will capture you for Shido!"

Each of them declared firmly. It was crystal clear they were not going to let her got away easily.

At her end of the chase however, Kurumi was more annoyed by their voices rather than the fact that she was pursued.

"Such noisy girls..."

Despite the situation at hand, Kurumi wasn't troubled at all. Rather, she was amused.

"Heh."

Kurumi chuckled as she looked behind at the four pursuers.

It was Rinne's plan to visit the school during the evening to set up an 'accidental meeting' with Shido.

They would then separate, gambling whether Shido would go after her or Kurumi.

If he went after Rinne, then the plan was a success. If he went after Kurumi, they would switch to the plan B.

Kurumi was almost sure that they would have to use plan B, in which Rinne would summon a spacequake to draw Shido out directly.

She didn't like to make gambles and take risks in her plans, so she thought plan A was doomed to fail. But to her surprise, plan A worked without a hitch.

"Why was he screaming, though? It's not like him."

That was something she could think about later, though.

Kurumi looked around. There was no civilian around, and they were in the middle of a car-free street.

Seeing the ideal condition, Kurumi laughed and stopped, prompting the four Spirits to stop a few meters behind her as well.

"[Elohim]!"

As she shouted the name of her Astral Dress, Kurumi's body was surrounded by darkness. In less than a few seconds, her black dress turned into crimson-red and black, and her uneven twin-tails returned.

"Sorry, but you'll have to let me escape, I will get somewhere, I still want to sleep within my nightmare, and you'll not catch me for Shido-san."

Kurumi replied to each one of their declarations with a wide, mocking grin forming in her face. Simultaneously, a huge golden clock appeared behind her.

Although usually they would come up with a reply, the four Spirits only kept silent as the Nightmare Spirit mocked them.

Seeing the unusual sight of her opposition's silence, Kurumi actually became curious about what happened inside their heads.

"Have they learned from experience not to piss me off?"

After a moment, Kurumi decided that fleeing the scene was a better choice of action.

"Good bye, everyone. I hope we will meet again, soon."

With a smirk, Kurumi put her flintlock to her temples and chanted.

"[Zafkiel]. [Aleph] (First Bullet)."

And by pulling the trigger of the time acceleration bullet, the Nightmare Spirit disappeared.

"What is this feeling?"

"I never feel like this before."

"When I ran after her that day in the past, I didn't feel like this...did I?"

"Is that girl really [Phantom]? Something feels different."

"But, what exactly?"

Shido found himsef returning to the Raizen High School.

The school wasn't empty yet. A few students could still be seen talking to each other at the entrance and in front of shoe lockers, and the teachers obviously hadn't returned to their homes at this hour. Nothing seemed out of place, nothing out of the ordinary.

But something was wrong.

The girl Shido was pursuing after couldn't possibly enter the school without being spotted. Her attractive appearance and suggestive clothing couldn't pass through unnoticed. But the behavior of the students made it seem she didn't even go here.

"It's weird... I clearly saw her went in."

Shido tensed up. Before, Phantom disappeared to the sky as easily as Kurumi disappearing through the shadows. If she really wanted to, she could just do the same trick to escape Shido again.

However, the girl just now didn't do that. Neither did Kurumi. That meant they wanted Shido to go after either of them. As for which one they wanted him to follow, he couldn't know.

Regardless, Shido knew that following either of them without the [Ratatoskr] backing him up was very dangerous.

He didn't bring the communicator device with him. Kotori would probably yell at him again when he returned home tonight.

That was assuming he even managed to return safely.

But, the strange feeling within his heart urged him to go on.

Shido quickly changed his shoes at the shoe lockers and entered the school building.

He had no idea where the girl was, but since he didn't see her outside, it was more likely that she was inside the school somewhere.

"But, where?"

Shido finally began to think calmly after his short-lived anger a few minutes ago.

"Raizen High is a large school two main buildings. Finding someone there isn't going to be easy."

He uttered words of discouragement to himself.

However, as he said that, a familiar music was heard.

"Eh?"

It was heard again. The music from this morning.

Shido panicked. The Spirit from this morning chose now to play her music again? While he was chasing Phantom?

Then a thought crossed his mind. Could it be... Phantom was the Spirit who played this?

Once again, the blue-haired boy concentrated to the music on the background. The melody came from...

"The rooftop!"

As Shido climbed the stairs of Raizen, he could tell something was wrong.

Logically, when you walked closer to something, then any sound that thing produced should become louder.

However, the music he heard was constant. It didn't sound any different from earlier, even as he got closer.

"It violates logic and sense... I suppose that's a Spirit for you."

Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door that led to the rooftop.

"Huh?"

There she was. However, Shido's attention was on the things around her.

The girl didn't look any different from earlier. However, a large, black circle was accompanying her behind her back, very similar to how Kurumi summoned her Zafkiel.

Unlike Zafkiel though, the circle appeared just like the Spacequakes: a hole in the fabric of reality. Shido couldn't see what's inside.

In the girl's hands, she was carrying what Shido recognized to be a purple colored lyre, strumming it gently.

"What are those? Could it be... her Angel?"

Not knowing what to say, Shido didn't say a word until the girl finally broke the silence between them.

"Welcome, Itsuka Shido."

As Rinne said that, her hand stopped strumming her lyre.

Shido watched as the strings reach out from her lyre, extend in length, and began to move rhythmically around her.

Even though she had stopped playing, the music continued, as if the strings gained a will on their own.

He could tell as much, it was similar to Origami's [Metatron] (Angel of Extinction) and [Satan] (Demon King of Salvation).

The girl seemed to notice Shido's unease, and spoke once more.

"Don't worry about these little kids. They are just protective of me."

The girl smiled at Shido, before calmly closed her eyes and continued.

"I have a lot of things to talk about with you... but I suppose you wanted to say a few words to me first?"

Shido was surprised at that.

"She... is giving me the chance to talk first?"

There were so many things he wanted to say. Or, to be exact, to ask Phantom.

But Shido had to ask one thing first.

"Who are you?"

It was the girl's turn to widen her eyes in surprise. The lyre strings around her froze and the music stopped.

After a moment, the girl asked back in disbelief.

"Who am I? Didn't you just recognize me as, you know, Phantom?"

"I thought so at first. But... I don't know, you are just... different."

Shido tried to explain, but he couldn't word it any better than that.

The girl appeared to consider that for a moment, before replying.

"Very well then. That makes it easier for me to explain."

"Th-then, who are you?"

"Do you still remember what Phantom said to you, when Kurumi shot you with [Yud Bet] (Twelfth Bullet)?"

Shido gasped.

"How did she know that I talked to Phantom during the time travel? Did Kurumi tell her?"

He was surprised, but he didn't allow it to halt the conversation.

"I still remember. Phantom said she was... wait, don't tell me you are...?"

"Well, as you can see, she is using my appearance."

The girl sighed at the last part. Shido could understand that.

It was not amusing when Natsumi copied his form.

"I see..."

"So this girl really isn't Phantom..."

Knowing that he wasn't dealing with the real Phantom, Shido's mind felt somewhat at ease.

However, he suddenly had so many questions within his head.

Who was she? Why was she walking with Kurumi? No, more importantly, why did she brought him here?

"Can I... have your name, then?"

Shido asked the first and foremost question.

The girl twitched.

She immediately looked away, as if Shido just did something repulsive.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I... I can't tell you my name."

Shido raised an eyebrow at that.

"Huh? Why?"

"It's..."

Hesitating, the girl's expression became increasingly anxious.

Shido only became confused. Was telling your name that difficult?

After a few moments, the girl let out a long sigh, mumbled 'I can do this' under her breath, before answering.

"My name is Sonogami Rinne. Nice to meet you, Itsuka Shido."

At that moment.

A feeling he couldn't describe began to fill his heart.

"Sonogami... Rinne..."

Shido had never heard the name.

Or, did he? He never had any memory of his childhood.

Regardless, the name echoed within his head like a scream in the midst of valley.

Refusing to disappear, just like his dream this morning.

Unbeknownst to Shido, the girl in front of him wasn't in a state of mind any different than himself.

Feeling her heart beating faster with every second, Rinne put her hand on her chest.

"This feeling... it's the same as three years ago."

Rinne still remembered clearly, when Kurumi first mentioned the name Itsuka Shido.

Her mind was intrigued. Her heart felt like it was possessed by something.

It's not that it was indescribable. Rinne could tell what she was feeling.

The problem was she didn't understand why would she feel such a thing.

A longing desire. A yearning heart.

Rinne denied that three years ago.

She didn't want to give in to the alien instinct. Why would she?

How could she feel that for some boy she didn't even know before? It was irrational.

However, she changed her mind once she realized the consequences of denying.

Every time Kurumi mentioned the name, Rinne felt it again. Less haunting, but still very discomforting.

Two years of that and Rinne was almost driven mad. She couldn't stand that anymore. She had to know how, and why.

"I have to... do this!"

Feeling overwhelmed, Shido didn't - couldn't - say a word.

"What is this?"

For the first time in his life, Shido felt something alien.

"What am I experiencing? What's happening to me?"

Shido couldn't tell. He couldn't understand.

"What is this feeling?!"

Shido wanted to scream, but words didn't leave his throat.

He felt somewhat grateful that Rinne didn't seem to be responsive at the moment either.

Before long, though, she broke the silence again.

"Shido..."

Rinne's voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard it.

"Ye, yeah?"

Shido wanted to say more, but he wasn't ready to talk. Not right away.

"You are aware of it, right? That I brought you here on purpose?"

"...Yes. Actually, I wanted to ask you why, but..."

He was not in any condition to think properly right now. He couldn't ask.

"I came to this city because I want to request you something..."

Rinne's voice became more uncontrolled, dripping with embarrassment.

"Request? Me?"

Shido not only felt he knew what would come next, he felt accepting of it already.

"You know, it may be sudden... I mean, we just meet today and all, but..."

She stopped mid-sentence for a deep breath.

"It, it's part of your job, right? I mean, you keep on asking girls out of the blue..."

He was not dense enough to not understand what Rinne meant with that shy stammering words.

"Would you go out on a date with me?"

Rinne finally said.

Another silence fell upon them.

She gave a sudden request. She was asking for the impossible.

Tonight he had a competition he had to attend. Tomorrow he would date the victor.

This request came from a Spirit who appeared out of nowhere.

She walked together with the Nightmare Spirit and was likely her ally.

Rinne also had her appearance used by Phantom. That was probably not a good sign.

Shido knew how dangerous accepting the date would be.

But he couldn't refuse.

Something told him not to.

"Yes. I would love to."

Surprised by his answer, Rinne's eyes widened.

"Wh, what? You really will?"

He noticed that Rinne had some problems believing what she heard just now.

He didn't blame her. Shido himself didn't believe that he just said the word.

But he had his reasons to accept.

Every single Spirit popped out of nowhere.

Kurumi was dangerous. But there wasn't a single Spirit who didn't threaten his life's safety.

Phantom might have something to do with Rinne, but then again, so did every Spirit.

For him, there was no reason to refuse a chance to save a Spirit.

"They would understand."

"Yeah. It's a chance to save you. I won't refuse it."

At his words, Rinne's lips curved into the smallest frown he ever knew, he barely could see it at all.

"I didn't say it was to save me. I want to date you for my own reasons."

Just like Kurumi. Obviously, Rinne had her own objective. But-

"It doesn't matter. You asked me for a date, and I will use it to save you."

"Are you sure? You won't go to Ratatoskr first? You won't ask for your sister's permission?"

Rinne shot her a questioning look, clearly not believing what he said.

"She will understand my choice! If she doesn't, I will make her understand!"

Shido wasn't even surprised that she knew about Kotori and the Ratatoskr. He didn't care at this point.

"You might die, you know? You saw that Kurumi and I are at least allies working together. This whole date might be our plan for her to eat you."

He didn't know why Rinne warned him about that, but that wouldn't stop him.

"Maybe. But if you really set this date up for her to eat me, that's good. I will get another shot at saving her, and I can save you too."

Shido said unhesitatingly.

"You... why?"

Rinne was at a loss of words. However, Shido had resolved to do this since the very beginning.

"Because I want to save you. That's all."

"..."

Rinne fell silent. She couldn't come up with an argument.

"Anyway..."

"Eh?"

"I have a lot of things I want to ask you. Your reason to date me. About me. Everything."

Shido's eyes met Rinne's. He wanted to show her how serious he was.

The strings around Rinne began to twitch uncontrollably while she nervously turned around, facing the dark hole behind her.

"...I can understand how you have so many girls following you."

"Urg?"

Shido was confused, but Rinne ignored that.

"Very well then."

She turned around to face Shido once more, her expression gentle.

"Since you accepted, I believe you will need some time to prepare yourself. We would meet here tomorrow, after the school had ended. Is that okay?"

"That's fine with me."

Shido was actually relieved. He said all that, but he clearly was not ready to go now.

"Then, is it a promise?"

Rinne extended her hand toward Shido.

Shido appeared to be hesitating for a moment, but then he smiled.

"It's a promise, Rinne."

As the two held each other hand-in-hand, Rinne closed her eyes. Shido too followed suit, as the familiar, yet unrecognizable feelings returned.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

As the question passed by his mind, Shido tightened his grip.

"Ah!"

Forgetting he was holding Rinne's hand, Shido was surprised by her yelp.

Realizing what he had done, Shido quickly opened his eyes and found a pair of brown eyes staring at him, flustered and trembling.

"I, I'm sorry!" Shido said quickly.

"It, it's fine..." Rinne replied weakly.

As if not wanting to embarrass herself further, the girl continued.

"Then, I hope you'll excuse me..."

"Huh?"

"[Cassiel] (Fate Shaman)!"

As she mentioned the name, Rinne threw the lyre on her hand to the the hole behind her.

Right after that, the hole gradually disappeared in a few seconds.

"Eh?"

After the hole was gone, Rinne's figure too, began to fade.

Seeing the girl before him fading away, Shido's eyes widened in shock.

Not because she was about to disappear, but because once again a feeling of dejavu had hit him.

"What is this? I think... I've seen this before."

Before she disappeared completely, Rinne turned at Shido.

What came after was the warmest smile Shido had ever seen, and words that pierced his heart.

"See you again, Itsuka Shido. Please, don't forget about our promise."

"Huh? Ah, yeah..."

Unable to properly find the right words to respond, Shido was stunned. He merely stared at Rinne's figure disappearing into light.

And there she went. Not a single trace of her was left. Shido still stared at the space that was occupied by her a few moments ago.

Coming to his senses, Shido began to feel his eyes were wet.

"Eh? Tears?"

"Why... why am I crying?"

There you go! Share anything you want to say about this chapter in the comments~

If you are wondering, Rinne's Angel, Cassiel, is not an angel from the Tree of Life like the Angels of other Spirits. Its name meant "God is my anger", but that's not why I chose the name.

Cassiel is also the Archangel of solitude and tears, and also the angel who falls in love with mankind. You'll see why I gave her that. After all, every Spirit's Angels fit perfectly with their powers/traits.

Thanks you for following the developments of "Alternate Reincarnation" so far!